Ok sorry for the delay. The pace should pick back up again after this.

Adace: Agalloch - Odal - I picked the perfect time to listen to this song the first time: lying in bed in the dark with the headphones on. It created a pretty phenomenal atmosphere. The picture in the background of the video summed it up pretty well too. Literally my only complaint about this piece was you kinda have to be in the right mood to listen to it. But when you are, it really hits home.Grade: 8.5

Jingle.dingle: Sass Jordan - I Want to Believe - Great song for this round. The acoustic guitar work is excellent, and then one of my favorite instruments makes an appearance: the mandolin. I'm not entirely sold on the vocals. Some times I think they're great, others not so much. Also I found the key change at the end a little jarring. Unfortunately for Jingle this is another one that had a lot of nice moments, but didn't quite stand up to some others in the round.Grade: 6.5

Senecacat2: David Gray - Shine (Live) - Ah, this really brought back memories of my parents playing White Ladder all the time growing up. The whole thing is pretty beautiful, and his voice is amazing as usual. Probably not my favorite David Gray song, but definitely up there.Grade: 8

Sacul: Opeth - Windowpane - Well this was extremely different from the two Opeth songs I got last round. Still very high quality, and still makes me wonder why the hell I always thought I didn't like this band. For the most part I really enjoyed this song, but I must admit there were a couple times where I felt my attention slipping. Maybe if it was a little shorter I would like it even more.Grade: 7.5

GentlemanofBread: Johnny Cash - God is Gonna Cut You Down - I'm kinda lukewarm on this song. It's another case of the "Good but not great" feeling. I don't have anything negative to say about it, but I didn't really "get it", at least at this point.Grade: 6

Shadow Ninja: Alexi Murdoch - Through the Dark - This song overall was incredibly relaxing. Really liked the vocalist too. Similar to the Agalloch song, you have to be in the right mood to appreciate it. Also, I found it just a tad too repetitive, but it wasn't enough to really change my view of the song.Grade: 7

Big Hath: Burlap to Cashmere - Anybody Out There? - I really liked the beginning of this song, but when it picked up and got faster I wasn't as fond of it. It just seemed to work better slower. The guitar solo was pretty awesome, though.Grade: 6.5

Lucien: Hector Berlioz - Hungarian March - I don't know why, but I've always connected better with faster, more upbeat classical music, so this was right up my alley. I think you described it very well in your message that it was an upbeat, catchy tune. I loved the main theme, and that crescendo at 3:20 was probably my favorite point of the whole song. Probably my favorite classical piece you've sent so far. Grade: 8

Elite: Magic Pie - Endless Ocean - Very impressed by this song. It had pretty much everything I could want in an acoustic song. Great guitar work, and the vocals fit perfectly with the song. Not much else to say for this one. No complaints at all.Grade: 8.5

Mikemangioy: Devin Townsend Project - Ki - Similar to the Opeth song, this sounded nothing like the Devin songs I got last round. Also similarly, there were a few spots where I struggled to pay attention, particularly in the middle. And I found the transition at about 4:30 to come out of nowhere. Other than that it was quite enjoyable.Grade: 7

Tyrias: The Tallest Man on Earth - Where Do My Bluebird Fly (Live) - For me this song went pretty much exactly how you expected. The guitar is excellent, and the vocals did eventually grow on me. They still seemed to surprise me every time a listened to it, though, and then once I got used to it it no longer bothered me. Very interesting tune.Grade: 7.5

Lonestar: Blind Melon - Change - Another song with some great acoustic playing in it. Lots of different parts going on at once, which I thought was cool. Some more mandolin too (I think) which is always good. Vocals were kinda just "meh" for me, though. Grade: 7

For Round 6, lets do something weird and go with songs that have some time signature other than 4/4. 4/4 can even be the majority of the song, but something else has to make an appearance. Hopefully this isn't too challenging.

Glad you enjoyed the song. Interesting that you've heard White Ladder a lot- it's one of my favorite albums of all time.

Also, I'd be curious to know what you think of the rest of Agalloch's music. I've thought about sending them a couple times but wasn't sure if you'd like the vocals. I'll send the next round soon enough!

Also, I'd be curious to know what you think of the rest of Agalloch's music. I've thought about sending them a couple times but wasn't sure if you'd like the vocals. I'll send the next round soon enough!

Honestly that was the first time I'd heard an Agalloch song in full, so I have no idea if I like their vocals.

Well, I can't really tell the time if it's not in 4/4, so I just went with something that I couldn't count along to . Let's hope it's not in 4/4...Edit: According to the video's comments the intro is alternating 7/8 and 3/8. so i guess I'm fine Edit 2: Reading further, no one seems to be able to agree on a time measure, so I guesss that's even better

Well, I can't really tell the time if it's not in 4/4, so I just went with something that I couldn't count along to . Let's hope it's not in 4/4...Edit: According to the video's comments the intro is alternating 7/8 and 3/8. so i guess I'm fine Edit 2: Reading further, no one seems to be able to agree on a time measure, so I guesss that's even better

Sorry for the late sending. It was my birthday on Tuesday and yesterday was my University's graduation ceremony. A festive week indeed, but it also made for little online presence. Not that it really mattered, because I had a good time. You got my song now, in any case.

Sorry for the late sending. It was my birthday on Tuesday and yesterday was my University's graduation ceremony. A festive week indeed, but it also made for little online presence. Not that it really mattered, because I had a good time. You got my song now, in any case.

Shadow Ninja: Gordian Knot - Muttersprache - I found this to be a lot more interesting than your typical instrumental piece. If my counting was correct, pretty much the whole thing was in 4/4 except for this weird breakdown section which, oddly enough, was actually my least favorite part of the second. For the most part, I liked it though. Some of the guitar solo parts are amazing, and I specifically enjoyed the softer section starting at 2:37. The main theme might have been repeated a little too much though.Grade: 7

Big Hath: Moon Safari - Yasgur's Farm - I feel like its uncommon these days to have a really happy sounding prog band, but these guys made it work. I'd say it was probably the keyboard that really stood out in this song. Every time I noticed it I was impressed by how good it sounded. Lots of 7/8 and 7/4, which are personal favorites of mine. For the most part the vocals were very good, but I do remember a few parts where I wasn't too fond of them. Overall, you definitely got back on track with this one.Grade: 8.5

Lucien: Lucien - Zephyros - I used the second link just so you know. Anyway, the first half of this song was mind blowing. Like, it sounds professional-grade. You lost me a bit in the 16th note runs on flute/xylophone, but for the most part the first half was gold. The second half wasn't quite as good, but there were definitely pieces here and there that I really enjoyed. Without a whole lot of percussion it was difficult to tell the time signature, but I definitely noticed some 3/4 and maybe 5/8. Overall: You're good at this. Keep at it.Grade: 7

GentlemanofDread: The National - Demons - I've only known of The National from Game of Thrones, but now they are 2 for 2 in terms of songs I like by them. I love the super deep vocals, they're really unique and quite enjoyable. The tone of the whole song was very relaxing and it only got better with more listens. Very impressed.Grade: 7.5

Senecadawg: Angra - Silence and Distance - With the name "Angra" I was expecting some pretty angry music. So naturally the beginning is incredibly soothing and soft, and amazing. When it does pick up and get heavier, it goes into this weird time signature that I'm still in the process of figuring out (gotta be something /16 because counting in eighths I keep getting off by half a beat). Anyway, really liked this song. The chorus was pretty great, but my favorite part was still the soft sections.Grade: 7.5

Adace: Animals as Leaders - CAFO - I'm pretty sure I've checked this band out before and wasn't fond of the vocals, so you made a wise decision sending an instrumental. Anyway, I couldn't even begin to count this song. It was very frustrating. Everyone in the band was an animal on their respective instruments (see what I did there?). Puns aside, they were extremely talented. On a few occasions they suffered from Dance of Eternity syndrome, but for the most part it was a really solid instrumental.Grade: 7

Sacul: Destiny Potato - Love Song - For some reason I'm a real hard time coming up with anything to say about this song, other than that it was amazing, and I pretty much liked the whole thing, and the electronic vocals at the beginning were really cool. Really don't have much else to say, but it was truly an great song.Grade: 8.5

Tyrias: Oceansize - Trail of Fire - Ok, this is where I get stuck, and need someone more knowledgeable to help me out. I clearly count the beginning as 3 measures of 7/8 and one of 3/8, but if you add that up its 24/8. So is that technically just really really syncopated 4/4, or do the accents make it 7/8 and 3/8? I'm going to assume the latter. Anyway, on to the actual song. It was excellent. I really like the overall tone of the song, and the vocals were very nice. Grade: 8

Jingle.boy: Mystery - Pride - This sounded very 70's prog-esque, which certainly isn't a bad thing. Most of it was in 7/8, but you couldn't really tell unless you really listened for it, which for me is a good thing. That soaring guitar part at 7:10 (and it happened earlier) was quite epic, and all the softer parts were flawless. I knew it was only a matter of time before you hit on a big one.Grade: 9

Lonestar: Pomegranate Tiger - Mountains in the Sky - This song started out really energetic and loud, and it was pretty awesome, but it tried to stay at that high energy level throughout the entire song, and that made it feel a bit same-y. That's really my only complaint, as the instrumentation was really good, and some of the riffs were . Of the three instrumentals this round, I have a really hard time figuring out which one I liked most, so I'm just giving them all the same grade.Grade: 7

Mikemangioy: Gojira - Ocean Planet - Despite not being an instrumental, I found this and Lonestar's song to be pretty comparable. Both were really loud and heavy throughout, and had some really great riffs, but felt just a little too unchanging. I still enjoyed it, but nothing really stood out.Grade: 7

Elite: Pain of Salvation - Used - This song was really interesting. It continually went back and forth between really heavy and somewhat softer, and mostly it did this really well, although there were a few transitions I found a little jarring. This one will probably take more listens to fully sink in, but right now its right in the middle of the pack for this round.Grade: 7.5